The Catacombs

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

"This is very much a modern construction. It's not like it was this sacred space that evolved into a tourist attraction" "I realized I couldn't write a whole book about the catacombs because I couldn't find enough research materials but I could write a chapter and it's again my favorite chapter by far," he said of his time in New York City. 'It just boggled my skull what a buster of flim flam'

Let’s get spooky. Venture below Parisian streets and into the catacombs: hundreds of miles of subterranean tunnels housing millions of human skeletons, some fashioned into sculpture. Alie tracked down Dr. Erin-Marie Legacey – author of “Making Space for the Dead,” professor of French history and one of the world’s foremost experts on this eerie place. We chat about everything from miasmas to sinkholes, boggling cemetery history, smells, skulls, hidden chambers, (very) underground parties, and how we view our bodies post-life. Also: Alie takes a trip to see them herself.

Dr. Legacy’s book, “Making Space for the Dead: Catacombs, Cemeteries, and the Reimagining of Paris, 1780-1830” on Bookshop.org and Amazon

Catacombs tickets

A donation went to: Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas